Rabbi: Israel a place of 'peace and security'

Israel has been, and continues to be a place of "safety and security" for Jews facing anti-Semitism, Rabbi Noach Light said during a recent lecture at the Torah Academy of Boca Raton.

Today, Jews in Europe and in France in particular, are immigrating to Israel to escape growing anti-Semitism, said Light, executive learning coordinator at the Jewish Education Center of South Florida.

In the United States, things could change quickly, he said. "They have before and they could again." Light cited the New York Post's recent front page photo of a Hasidic businessman who was murdered in Williamsburg, New York, and the headline, "Who wouldn't want this guy dead?"

"The fact that that could happen," Light said, "is telling you, things are not as rosy as we think they are." He continued, "We don't know what will happen in America 30 years from now. The only security we have is to make Israel safe and secure."

Light traced the flow of Jews to the Holy Land — from those fleeing Spain in 1492 to the "final Aliyah" between 1933 and 1939 in which 250,000 Jewish immigrants entered Palestine. Immigration slowed between 1939 and 1943, he said, when the British imposed a limit of 15,000 Jews annually.

He blamed Great Britain for the deaths of millions of Jews in the Holocaust. "They were well-aware of the threat of Germany, never-the-less, they didn't care," Light said.

In 1947, 33 percent of the population of Palestine was Jewish, Light said. When the United Nations began discussing the creation of a dual state, "The Jews were more than happy to discuss that compromise." They said, "Give us a land that we can call home," Light said.

With 33 nations voting for the compromise, 13 nations voting against it and 11 nations abstaining from voting in 1948, the Jews finally got their modern homeland, he said.

Israel was involved in three wars with its Arab neighbors. The Jews prevailed, Light added.

"Why do we care? Why do we need Israel [today]?" he asked. "Number one, putting aside religion, putting aside spirituality, it is a source of security."

"The majority of Jews who tried to get back to Israel always did so because they weren't safe," Light said. "After the crusades, Jews went to Israel. After the expulsion from Spain, we got to our homeland. After the pogroms, after the Holocaust," he said.

After 2002, there was a 60 percent increase of French Jews making Aliyah, Light said. From 1985 to 2001, 1,357 people made Aliyah every year. And from 2002 to 2012, that figure increased to 2,194, he said.

Haaretz explained the statistics, Light said. "As anti-Semitism is increasing throughout Europe and France especially, there [was] a need to find their way to a homeland where they could feel secure." Light added, "The only security we have is keeping Israel safe and secure."

Light asked the audience to educate and inform others about the modern State of Israel. By doing so, he said, "We will have a more secure homeland and a more secure future."

Mike Dansky of Boca Raton said he sees Israel as "insurance" for the Jews. "We have Israel," Dansky said. "That's why there will never be another Holocaust."